Indian state-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has decided to progressively pull out of the exports market and reduce exports to almost zero in the last quarter of the current fiscal year (January-March 2021), company sources said on Friday, November 13.
The sources said that the company, which predominantly exports semis, would focus entirely on domestic sales which offer higher margins and are backed by strong demand from re-rollers.
While RINL will continue to ensure full capacity utilization of its long products mill as, with construction activities expected to bounce back during the last quarter, merchant sales of surplus production of billets and slabs will be increased in the local market, as Indian rolling units have been facing shortages and margins from domestic sales are significantly higher than from exports.
In the April-August period, the steel producer had exported 542,000 mt of semis.
“Demand in the domestic steel market is surging since the easing of the lockdown. The government’s spending on multi-modal transport infrastructure will also help the steel industry. RINL’s capacity utilization is at 100 percent,” RINL chairperson A K Rath said in a statement.
“We are committed to strive to meet the steel demand of the country,” he said.